Episodes

  • Episode 16: The Kitchen Emerges & The Community Grows...
    May 2 2023

    Join Chrissie, Mike, Lisa & Myself for the latest videocast on the emerging remains of the lower house sections of the Kitchen Courtyard complex at Milner Field House. Huge Thanks to Louise Clarke for her efforts to provide the MFH Cooperative with funds to replace stolen tools.


    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    35 mins
  • Episode 15: Easter Update on Progress with The Milner Field Cooperative Community Project...
    Apr 7 2023

    Join us for an update on all the recent developments from the Milner Field Estate in Gilstead. Andy, Chrissie & myself chat about the steady progress and finds of historical importance. We discuss the recently vacated North Lodge & the Delph Woods quarry. A new video is also out now which you can watch on youtube & Spotify on the 'Milner Field House History & Discovery' channels.....


    https://youtu.be/GDYTLHAToe4


    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.


    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    35 mins
  • Milner Field Estate: Little Beck Delph Woods Quarry Buildings & Remains (Video on YouTube & Spotify)
    Apr 7 2023
    The Old English word Delft meaning to Dig, Quarry, or Mine became Delph, signifying a Quarry, Mine or Clay pit. Delph Woods is the site of Milner Field House, the Gothic Country Mansion build by Titus Salt Jr for his wife Catherine, (built between 1869-1873) - the wider estate comprised of an existing Old Manor House, which along with Stubbings Farm was demolished due to disrepair. It is clear that an extensive quarrying operation was on site during the building of the estate, and much remains including the footprints, and remaining foundations of at least two buildings in the main quarry site, plus debris and broken tool parts, bricks, slates and much more. I took a walk along this tree lined miniature glen again recently to examine how this lost chapter of the Milner Field & Salt Family history could have been set up, in order to provide the stone masonry for the building of the house and estate. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    35 mins
  • Episode 14: The Orangerie to Potting Shed Unveiled...
    Mar 3 2023

    This week Chrissie & Myself take a look back at the last fortnight's discoveries along the west side of Milner Field House ruins from the Orangerie doorways, Stained glass windows & through the potting shed into the remaining walls of Titus Salt Jr's Billiard room...

    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.



    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    47 mins
  • Episode 13: Luggage Entrance Door & Orangery Steps...
    Feb 17 2023

    Join Chrissie, Allen & Myself as we discuss the weeks discoveries at Milner Field House & chat uncover more of the outline...

    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.


    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    51 mins
  • Episode 12 : A Dozen of The Best With the 4ofUs!
    Feb 10 2023

    Join Chrissie, Andy Mac, Allen & Myself for an exciting update on the recent discoveries at Milner Field House... The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.





    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    48 mins
  • Episode 11 : The Library & Dining Rooms Emerge!
    Jan 31 2023

    Join Chrissie, Andy & Myself as we discuss the weeks discoveries & updates from the Library & Dining Room areas of Milner Filed House.

    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.





    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
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    40 mins
  • Episode 10: North Side, Veranda Stairs & The Porch...
    Jan 24 2023

    Join Chrissie, Andy & Myself as we discuss the last few weeks at Milner Field House & the many new discoveries which have come to light.

    The ruins of Milner Field have lain hidden from view since the 1950s, when the mansion’s grisly reputation led to a failed demolition using dynamite. When even TNT couldn’t shift the seemingly cursed house, it was torn down instead several years later in the 1960s - not before the remaining ironworks & suchlike had been pillaged by local scrap merchants.


    Built between 1871 and 1873, the mansion was the brainchild of Titus Salt Jr, the son of the wealthy Victorian industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. Towards the end of his life, Titus senior gave his son a plot of farmland to build a house. This would become Milner Field, a lavish, sprawling testament to his wealth and power, which even attracted royal visitors on a few occasions.


    However, things started to go awry in November of 1887, when Titus junior died suddenly of heart failure in the billiard room of the mansion. The business he’d inherited from his father then began to slump, and the house was sold off to Sir James Roberts, whose personal life was beset by death, calamity, and national scandal after he moved into the residence in 1904. By 1923, the house fell to Ernest Gates, whose wife passed away just two weeks after the move, before he himself died after injuring his foot in an accident and developing septicemia. The final owner of the house, Arthur Remington Hollins, saw his wife die of pneumonia less than a year after moving in, and soon passed away himself by hiccuping to death after irritation of the gall bladder and diaphragm.


    In 1930, the mansion was put up for sale again, but understandably, it failed to sell. The house lay derelict and started to be stripped of its valuables, its windows, and then finally the roof. Nature reclaimed the site, and by the time of World War II, the grounds were used as grenade practice by the local Home Guard.


    Today, Milner Field lies in ruins, sheltered by the elements, but look a little more closely and you can still make out the cellars, the mosaic pattern on the conservatory floor, and walk among the piles of masonry and rubble that has been seemingly untouched for 70 years.




    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/david-bottomley0/message
    Show more Show less
    48 mins